U.S. HIV Policy & Law News

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a potentially devastating move for the health and privacy of HIV/AIDS patients, United Healthcare, the nation's largest health insurer, is allegedly illegally forcing its sickest and most vulnerable members to abandon their local pharmacies in favor of United's own in-house mail-order service, according to a new statewide class action lawsuit. As the result of a settlement in a similar lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross, patients with HIV/AIDS may now opt-out of Anthem Blue Cross's mail-order pharmacy program.

California and other states would be pressured to amend or repeal criminal laws that single out HIV-positive people under a bipartisan bill co-authored and introduced this week by Rep. Barbara Lee.

Lee, D-Oakland, said 32 states and two U.S. territories have laws that criminalize exposing another person to HIV even if the virus isn't actually transmitted. And 36 states have reported at least 350 cases in recent years in which HIV-positive people have been arrested or prosecuted for consensual sex, biting and spitting, according to the Center for HIV Law and Policy.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In a sharp rebuke to California Medicaid officials, a federal court has invalidated a California state law that hurt safety net medical providers that participate in a federal program known as the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which allows qualified health care organizations that care for underserved people to purchase outpatient drugs at discounted prices.

This week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a new Recommendation Statement on screening for HIV, giving a “Grade A” recommendation for routine HIV screening for all people aged 15 to 65, as well as younger adolescents and older adults who are at an increased risk for HIV infection. It also gave a “Grade A” recommendation for HIV screening for all pregnant women, including those in labor whose HIV status is unknown.

Implementation of these recommendations will aid substantially in efforts to improve the HIV treatment cascade and achieve the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

The significant gains and advancements made in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients could be permanently derailed if sequestration and budget cuts by the government are implemented, according to testimony delivered to Congress by a senior executive from the AIDS Institute in Washington.

Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the Florida-based think tank, urged members of Congress to reconsider tenets of the continuing resolution and sequestration mandates that were originally enacted under the Budget Control Act of 2011 but implemented this year. Schmid said the cuts would impact HIV/AIDS patients especially hard and make it difficult for some of them to continue to receive treatment.

 The Pennsylvania Department of Welfare has announced welcome changes to their Special Pharmaceuticals Benefits Program. Effective January 24, 2013, a greater number of Pennsylvanians seeking life-saving prescription drug coverage are likely to qualify for help—a consequence of SPBP’s increase in income eligibility levels.  Former guidelines required applicants to report incomes at or below 337% of the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines; the often restrictive threshold has now been raised to 500%. An individual earning up to $57,400 now qualifies for much needed assistance.

As part of its Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached three settlements addressing HIV discrimination by medical providers over the past three weeks. Each of the settlements was reached under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities—including persons with HIV disease—in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications.

In the settlement announced this week, DOJ found that Woodlawn Family Dentistry of Alexandria, Virginia required a patient with HIV to schedule all future appointments as the last appointment of the day. DOJ determined that, because the patient has HIV, Woodlawn failed to offer him the same options and availability in scheduling future appointments as it offered to other people.

Michigan health officials are using HIV surveillance technologies to assist in enforcing a "health threat" law that makes it illegal for HIV-positive people to have sex without disclosing their status.

A new University of Michigan study reveals that health officials employ the state's names reporting database, alongside partner services referrals, for law enforcement purposes. However, this is bad social policy for a variety of reasons, says Trevor Hoppe, the study's author and a doctoral candidate in sociology and women's studies.